Manufacturing buffers help to smooth over problems at each stage of production. The project management tool "honesty buffer" is when someone holds back reporting issues and problems to make things look better than they are. Reducing or eliminating such buffers quickly exposes problems and enables rapid process and quality improvement.

Improving team performance is as much about attitude as it is about using specific project management techniques to improve quality. Here, "It Should Work The First Time" caught the imagination of the staff and became a cultural and performance changing philosophy